The film that made Spielberg a "star" director.

Question. When Brodie (Roy Scheider) is getting on the Orca for the first time, he's freaking out (because he's afraid of water), and all the while Quint (Robert Shaw) is singing this little sailor's ditty under his breath. The effect is wonderful. But I can't remember the tune he's singing! Anyone remember?

That would be "Spanish Ladies" a "traditional English shanty" according to the internet movie database.

Farewell and adeiu to you fair Spanish ladies.
Farewell and adeiu, you ladies of Spain.
For we've received orders to set sail for Boston,
and so nevermore shall we see you again.

Thanks guys!

This movie (and Star Wars) changed the film industry, and maybe not for the better. The two films noted above made Hollywood studio moguls obsessed with the blockbuster opening weekend and the $100 million gross. Also, Jaws went seriously over budget, mostly to circumstances beyond Speilberg's control (e.g. the weather and the tempremental mechanical shark.)

Seeing as this is the 4th of July, I've been rewatching this film. Here's a few comments and nits I've spotted:

Chief Brody's wife, makes the comment that Chief Brody is so afraid of the water that when the Chief rides the ferry to the mainland, he rides in the car. Except that when Brody goes to warn the Boy Scouts to get out of the water, he stands on the deck of the ferry. And not in a car.

According to Matt Hooper, the shark is a night feeder. Based on what? The girl, Chrissie was indeed attacked at night. However, Alex Kitner, the kid and that dog, Pippet, were attacked in broad daylight.

Hooper takes Brody on his boat at night to find the shark. This is just after they perform the shark autopsy. Hooper informs Brody that they are searching "the stretch where (the shark's) been feeding." Again, this is based on what? There has so far been three deaths attributed to "Bruce", the shark.* There were no witnesses to Chrissie's death. So no one knows exactly how far out to sea she was when Bruce attacked her. Alex and Pippet were attacked fairly close to the shore. So how does Hooper know what stretch he's been feeding in?

Does Brody's wife know her kids are at the beach? It's the 4th of July and everyone's at the beach. As Brody stalks the beach, his wife whispers, "I've got Sean (the youngest son)." We then see Sean go running after his big brother. Then as everyone evacuates the waters during the fake shark attack, she calls out for her other son, "Michael". Michael is in the pond with his friends. Shortly after the real Bruce is found, he's heading for the pond. Mrs. Brody informs her husband that Michael is in the pond. When did she learn that?

Incidentally, a cheat on identifying when it's really Bruce appearing: you'll hear the bass cello shark theme.

Despite his high-class education, Hooper is so wrong about everything when it comes to the shark. Quint, who has practical knowledge of sharks, is by far more accurate. Ironically, it is Hooper, the one who is wrong so often, that survives.

About Quint's Indianapolis story, that was totally ad libbed by Robert Shaw. Shaw learned the details of the story so well, he was able to make it his own, thus making it far more effective than if he was merely learning lines.

The exterior night scenes aboard the Orca were clearly shot during daylight using a grey filter over the camera lens.

When Brody gets his gun after Bruce knocks out the lights on the Orca, you can see a shooting star streak across the sky. Was this a Spielberg trademark?

After Quint smashes the radio aboard the Orca, Hooper tells Brody and Quint that the shark has come back for his noon feeding. I thought Hooper said Bruce was a nocturnal feeder?

They shoot two barrels into Bruce to try to wear him down. Bruce drags them underwater. The barrels then resurface and bob in the water. They bob vertically. Watch the one farthest from the viewer. It starts to lay on its side, then rights itself. That's because the barrels have a couple of scuba divers underneath them, making them bob. Apparently, one of the divers lost control of his barrel somewhat.

As Quint overheats the Orca's engines, we see black smoke come out from under the deck of the boat in the cabin. However, it takes an incredibly long time for that black smoke to become visible from the outside of the boat.

I swear. You put Hooper underwater with something in his hands and he'll let it fall to the ocean's floor. The shark's tooth, his flashlight, his spear gun...

When Bruce jumps onto the deck of the Orca from one angle it looks like he settles back into the water. However, in the very next shot, he's clearly above water. Of course, this may be due to the motion of the boat.

Brody jabs a harpoon into Bruce's head. Bruce then snatches it away. When the shark does take it away, the spear is in his mouth. Yet Brody was stabbing the top of Bruce's head. I suppose that in some obscured shot the harpoon slipped and went into the shark's mouth.

I love the sound effects for this film. They're a part of what makes it so effective. When Bruce bites into Quint's leg, for instance, you can hear the sound of bone crunching.

Uh, one minor detail. Hooper said earlier that the tiger shark probably wasn't the shark that was terrorizing Amity beaches. Okay, um, so, how do Quint, Hooper and Brody know for sure that Bruce really is the culprit? After the shark is sighted, it's just naturally assumed that Bruce is the one. But there's no way to know for sure. Is there?

*"Bruce" was the name of the mechanical shark, so I tend to call the shark of the movie, "Bruce".

Recently, I saw Jaws on AMC. I've probably seen the movie 20 or 30 times. Then comes the scene when they lower Hooper into th cage. He sees the shark and it went away. Hooper prepares his harpoon and ... the shark rams the cage.
The scene scared me! Just to prove this is a timeelss classic.
Soon after, I saw a special on E about the making of Jaws. Something they mentioned got me interested. They said the way the shark was killed was changed from the book (frankly, a cop is a good shot--but not that good. A shot like that would be total guesswork and sheer luck). Anyway, does anyone know how the shark was killed in the book?

It's been a while, but it's injured to the point where it can't swim (and sharks need to keep swimming, as they have no air bladdrs). It eventually falls to the ocean floor and dies there.

As I said, it's been a while. But yes, the ending is radically different, but film and print are different media.

Ken Begg, of Jabootu fame, has just started to post a series of reviews for the JAWS series. He starts with genuine praise and affection for the first film (natch) but then seeks to show how the quality of the films went downhill from there. The first two are up and are quite interesting, if a bit lengthy, and he does touch on some production history.

Jabootu's JAWS review

Uh, one minor detail. Hooper said earlier that the tiger shark probably wasn't the shark that was terrorizing Amity beaches. Okay, um, so, how do Quint, Hooper and Brody know for sure that Bruce really is the culprit? After the shark is sighted, it's just naturally assumed that Bruce is the one. But there's no way to know for sure. Is there?

Based on Bruce attacking the pond swimmers in plain view, and on Hooper's explanation about the probable size of the shark that killed Christy, they probably just extrapolated that any rogue great white made for a decent suspect.

While that's true, Skipper, they still don't know for sure, which was my point.

This movie also gave John Williams his first Oscar for "Best Original Score"

When the shark attacks Hooper in the cage, those are not really Richard Dreyfuss' eyes you see. They are the eyes of a small person they hired for that part.
The Orca never went far from shore. Spielburg was careful not to let the land show in the shots.
Spielburg named the shark Bruce after his lawyer.
Robert Shaw did indeed ad lib the part about the Indianapollis. (forgive my spelling). But he was drunk the first time he did it, so they had to reshoot. They only kept a tiny bit of his drunken part in the movie.
Shaw was also majorly seasick, throwing up after takes.

The speech about the Indianapolis is one of the most memorable scenes in the film. Wasn't it considered almost a throwaway scene?

OK, not so much of a Jaws nit, but in the scene
after the shark goes on the attack in the pond,
they show a hospital scene. One of the nurses
comes out the door wearing a uniform with
a *GIANT* collar

Once again, it's the 4^th of July, and I'm watching Jaws. (This may become an annual tradition. On second thought, as I've watched it the last two years, I guess it has.)

If you look at the coroner's report on Christine Watkins' death that Brody types out, you'll find that she died on "07-01-74". The report was made on the 2^nd of July. That same day, Alex Kitner was attacked by Bruce. The next day, July 3^rd, Matt Hooper arrives. Logically, when Hooper and Brody tell Mayor Vaughan about the discovery of Ben Gardner's boat and the huge shark tooth Hooper found, that day should be the Fourth of July. Apparently, it isn't. Vaughn states that Independence Day is "tomorrow". Something's not right with the film's internal chronology.

Add to the fact that Mrs. Kitner, before she slaps Brody, indicates that Bruce's first victim died "last week" and, well, it's possible. But kinda of awkward given that we seem to be talking about only a couple of days. And that Chrissie died a few hours before Alex did. Moreover, several lines of dialogue mention that the Fourth of July takes place over the course of a weekend. This really makes Mrs. Kitner's "last week" comment questionable.

Usually, whenever Bruce attacks, the classic low/bass cello theme is played. Except when Bruce attacks the man in the boat in the pond. This is the only exception in the film.

At the hospital, Mrs. Brody asks Michael, her son, what he wants her to bring him from home. Among the items he requests is coffee. Coffee? Don't they serve that at the hospital?

As Brody is trying to learn to tie knots, the position of his hands change in the two different camera angles.

Quint finishes his Indianapolis story, and whale song can be heard. The positions of his and Hooper's arms changes between shots.

Hooper's in the water, in his cage. Bruce is attacking the cage. At one point, Hooper takes his knife and starts to stab Bruce. Blood spurts out from the wound. In the next shot, the blood cannot be seen.

Bruce leaps on top of the stern of Orca. Quint starts to slide down to Bruce. In one shot he grabs hold of Brody's arm with his left hand. Look at the next shot very carefully. His left hand is reaching out to grab Brody. Then we see his grip on Brody's arm loosen til the Captain's no longer holding onto the sheriff of Amity. In the next shot, Quint still has a hold on Brody's arm.

In one shot, we see Quint sliding to Bruce's mouth and the Captain is the center of the deck. In the next shot he's holding to the port side of the boat. The debris around Quint also changes in those two shots.

When Quint is sliding into Bruce's mouth, we can see Brody has also slipped out of the cabin of Orca. However, in a later shot, we see Brody slide down to the doorway of the cabin.

Quint's bandana is knocked off his head as he's thrashing around in Bruce's mouth. However, in the close-up of Quint, as the blood spurts from his mouth, the bandana is still on his head.

"Fast fish."

At the hospital, Mrs. Brody asks Michael, her son, what he wants her to bring him from home. Among the items he requests is coffee. Coffee? Don't they serve that at the hospital?

Isn't it coffee ice cream? that Michael Brody asks his mom for?

You're gonna make me go back and double check it, aren't you, Adam? I'll get back to you on that one.

"Fast fish."

Once again, it's the 4th of July, and I'm watching Jaws.

Did you watch it again this year, Benn?
All four Jaws movies were on Encore one recent day. So you could check out how the series, which started off with thic classic, and went straight to the bottom with Jaws - The Revenge. Ken Begg analyzed all four films on his Jabootu site a few years back. You can start here.

One of the things I noticed recently was that even the ending credit roll is minimal. Nowadays, credits seem to be almost as long as the movie. In The Devil Wears Prada, even the company that handled Meryl Streep's security got a credit. It's refreshing to see a mimimalist touch.

Not this year. I just feel up to it. Plus I had to work on the Fourth and my routine on work days is such that I really couldn't get around to watching Jaws even if I felt like it. Maybe I'll get back to the tradition of watching it next year.

I should have watched it, though. I still need to double-check about the "coffee/ice cream" thing.

"Fast fish."

Since I just watched "Jaws" for the first time, I might as well answer the coffee question. The kid says he wants his cars from home, and the mom asks, "What about ice cream?" He replies, "Coffee!" So it sounds like he means coffee ice cream.

I rewatched the film this past July and meant to post about that. Yeah, it could be that he was asking for coffee flavored ice cream.

"Fast fish."

Since I just watched "Jaws" for the first time...
Just where have you been since June 1975?

HBO and Cinemax have running the four Jaws films often. Sometimes solo, sometines four in a row, and sometimes four days in a row, at the same time each day.

Blu-Ray/DVD combo pack will be available on August 12, 2012. Amazon's price is $25. Which is what I think I paid for my 25th anniversary DVD back in 2000. More here.

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quote:

They said the way the shark was killed was changed from the book...Does anyone know how the shark was killed in the book?

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In typing the report on Christine Watkins' death (the first victim), Chief Brody lists the time of her disappearance as "7-1-74 11:50 p.m." Which is fine. However, the time of her discovery is listed as "7-2-74 10:20 p. m. Man, that moon was shining so bright the "night" Police Deputy Hendricks found her body, you'd've thought the sun was shining. (Of course, it's obvious the body was found on the morning of July 2nd.)

After the fisherman capture the tiger shark, Hooper tells Brody he wants to examine the shark's stomach contents, saying a shark has a slow digestive system; Whatever it's eaten in the last 24 hours will still be in the stomach. So Hooper arrived on July 2nd. On the same day, there was a town meeting. Mrs. Kitner runs a ad in several publications that are read by a bunch of people in the surrounding area, who converge on Amity and they then proceed to take to the waters and hunt and kill a shark. All in a matter of a few hours? 6 hours, at the most, I would guess? This film takes place in 1974, well before the Internet Age. There's no way Mrs. Kitner's ad was printed in any newspapers or magazines that quickly, much less read by that many people. Much less that many people could have gotten to Amity that quickly. Except, after Mrs. Kitner's ad is announced, there's a night-time scene where two Islanders try to get Bruce using "the wife's roast". So Hooper's not going to find Chrissie inside the shark's stomach. It's been over 24 hours. (Was there anything Hooper got right?)

When Mrs. Kitner slaps Chief Brody, she's clearly in her mourning clothes. This seems to indicate she has just attended her son's funeral. That was quick., considering she slaps Brody on the third of July, the day after her son died.

When Brody's youngest son, Sean, is imitating his dad at the dinner table, notice how actor, Jay Mello, folds his hands together before Roy Scheider does.

"That's some bad hat, Harry."

Jaws returns to selected theaters on June 21 and 24th, 2015, in a 40th anniversary presentation sponsored by TCM and Fathom Events. More here.

"We're gonna need a bigger boat."

I was looking up Jaws the Revenge after reading about Judith Barsi. You can just imagine Michael Caine's conversation with the filmmakers: "What's that? You don't have Steven Spielberg? You don't have Richard Dreyfuss? You don't have a remotely realistic looking shark? You're offering me fistfuls of cash? Where do i sign?"

It would be tough turning down a million dollars for 10 days work. Which, IIRC, is what Caine was paid for Jaws the Revenge. Caine was having a house built, and this was a quick way to pay for it. His comment about the movie was "I have never seen it, but I understand it is terrible. However, I have seen the house it built, and it is terrific."

Mayor Vaughn is shown smoking a cigarette in the hospital after the second shark attack, when Brody's son was taken there. Correct me if I'm wrong, but even back in the mid-1970's, I'm pretty sure smoking was prohibited in hospitals.

It was strictly prohibited around oxygen tents, for obvious reasons. I don't think it was prohibited in other places. Heck, they even had doctors (and not even those employed by the tobacco companies) extolling the health benefits of various brands.

I remember ads like that. One print ad said something like "More doctors smoke Chesterfields than any other brand". A man in a white lab coat (who may or may not have been a doctor) was shown, lit butt in hand. What a crock!
In the first Jaws, Roy Scheider's Brody wore his eyeglasses pretty much all the time. In Jaws 2, he wears glasses in just one scene. (Yeah, that's really picky. But, as someone who has worn glasses almost his entire life, I latch on to stuff like that.)

Obviously Jaws is the most American film because it's about the people who run the town refusing to close the beach - i.e. make a concession to a clear natural threat - because they'd lose money if they did, even though taking a short-term loss would probably benefit them financially in the long run.

A play based on and spoofing the (overlong) filming of Jaws, titled The Shark is Broken, played in London and is headed to Broadway. It was co-written by and stars Ian Shaw, son of Jaws star Robert Shaw. More here.

Steven Spielberg read the original novel and found the characters so terrible that he actually hoped the shark would win.

So he made a few changes.

Like Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss's character). In the novel, he's a creep who sleeps with Ellen Brody. He ends up shark food. In the movie, he's a much nicer guy and gets to live.